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Bettis Misses Out on HOF Again

For the fourth straight year, Jerome Bettis didn’t get the phone call he was waiting for.

The former Pittsburgh Steelers (and Rams) rushing legend was not part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2014, as announced Saturday evening at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Michael Strahan, Derrick Brooks, Walter Jones, Andre Reed, Aeneas Williams, Ray Guy and Claude Humphrey were elected to the Ohio shrine and will be inducted in July.

Bettis, who retired in 2006 with 13,662 rushing yards during a 13-year career, will have to wait at least 12 more months to get a bust in Canton. Despite being one of the most effective “big backs” in NFL history, the Detroit native was one of 10 finalists to meet disappointment on the eve of the Super Bowl.

The 5-foot-11, 250-pound Bettis came to the Steelers via trade from St. Louis in 1996 and immediately became a Pittsburgh favorite due to his powerful, yet nimble running style. He had his best season in 1997 with 1,665 yards, but he remained a useful player until age 33, when he called it quits after a Super Bowl win in his hometown.

However, it’s been speculated that his relatively-low yards per carry average of 3.9 hurts his Hall of Fame chances. That appears to be the case, as there were no running backs in this year’s class, so no one was “blocking” Bettis from garnering enough votes.

In addition to Bettis’ empty night, former Steelers linebacker Kevin Greene didn’t get a call despite making the list of finalists for the third consecutive year. Also waiting until next year: Tony Dungy, who briefly played for Pittsburgh in the 1970s before making his name as a superb NFL head coach.

I think Bettis eventually gets there...but there is no doubt his ypc is hurting him. On a team with a QB, it would probably would have been a different story.

Good point. Undoubtedly Bettis' average would have been better... It is sad that we had such a long stretch without a franchise qb.
I watched some highlights from the last steelers/cowboys sb the other day. Seeing some of those guys (K.Greene, Lloyd, Buckner, Kirkland, Seals, Lake, Perry)... it is sad that such dominant defenses did not have a Big ben type of qb on the opposite side of the ball. You have to wonder how many SB's we could have won in that era..

Bettis' only discriminating requirement is that he is a member of the Steelers. The anti-Steelers bias is again proven to be alive and well. Hines Ward and Ben Roethlisberger take note because this is your future too.

I really thought without any other RB's, he was a lock this year. I know the voters are supposed to pick the 5 best player, not the 5 best positions - but I still think they missed the boat with bussie. I think he certainly had greater impact than aeneas williams.

nice to see andre reed get in however. I don't care about 4 lost superbowls (well, i would if i were a buffalo fan) - that team was very special.

Except for Brooks and Jones, personally, I don't like this class at all, its getting to the point that all you basically have to do is play in the NFL long enough to get inducted. Don't get me wrong, all great players, but I doubt very much that teams game planned for Reed and that quarterbacks avoided Williams. Strahan has the single season sack record (it may have been a gift from a friend) and a lot o sacks. But, was he really a game changer?

Due to the lack of talent at the quarterback position for the Steelers during Bettis' Steeler career I certainly believe that Bettis was the focus of DCs for many years, he is still 6th all time leading rusher 7 years after he retired and will probably stay there for some time before he gets passed (Jackson 3,000 yards behind, Peterson 3,500 yards behind, Gore 3,600 yards behind, McGahee 5,200 yards behind), one of the top 3 or 4 goal line backs of all time and I think Bettis certainly belongs in the HOF.

I'm not sure how Reed and Williams get the nod over Bettis, heck, I'm not sure how you put Reed in before Tim Brown who was also a KR and PR during his career.

Oh well, Jerome will have to wait another year and hopefully, they will come to their senses. He certainly has had as much impact on the game as Reed, Williams and Strahan, IMO.

I'd love to know what Bettis' YPA would be if you took away fourth Q - air out of the ball because everyone knows that it is going to Bettis - time. How many backs can get the ball in the 4th, when everyone in the stadium knows that he is getting it, a kill the rest of the game? It is probably his least glamorous, and most consistent, career accomplishment.

Kevin Greene has 18.5 more sacks (160) than Strahan (141.5) and they played 15 seasons each. Greene started 176 games while Strahan started 205, giving Greene a sack every 1.1 games started and Strahan a sack every 1.45 games started. Greene also has 2 more tackles then Strahan with less playing time. I'm really confused about this one and in disbelief about Bettis.